Hourglass Jewels
by claraoswalds
Summary: Teddy Lupin was used to making a mess of things in Hogwarts; after all, it was part of his job description. But when you add a Weasley, particularly Victoire, and a magical hourglass, things start to get wonky. The next thing he knows, he's meant to be teaching his teenaged father DADA in 1977. With Victoire. How did this stuff always happen to him? - HIATUS.
1. hourglass jewels

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.**

**Just so you are aware, the kiss at the platform before Victoire's last year did happen, but Teddy and Victoire are _not_ together when this story starts. This takes place a couple years after the Epilogue. It's mostly canon-compliant.**

**This will be a multichapter, but I'm not sure yet how many chapters. Also, if there are any similarities to any other time travel fics (I know there are quite a few that have Harry returning to teach his parents, though I'm not aware of any that have Teddy and Victoire doing so), I deeply apologize; it was not intentional.**

* * *

Teddy should have known he was in trouble the minute Victoire just waltzed into the Headmaster's office as if she owned the place.

He _definitely_ should have figured it out when she took advantage of Uncle Neville—no, Headmaster Longbottom's absence to traipse around the office and examine all the little trinkets collected by headmasters past as the portrait of Dumbledore cheerfully encouraged her.

To his credit, he at least realized he was doomed when she started playing with the magic hourglass sitting locked away in a cupboard (until she assaulted it with her wand).

"Vic, I swear to Merlin, if you get me in trouble before I even officially start working here…" Teddy let his threat trail off as he jumped at her from behind in an effort to get her away from the hourglass. The thing kind of gave him the creeps anyway. It was probably best if she was far, far away from it.

"You'll what?" Victoire giggled, bending to examine the beautiful, multi-colored jewels inside the hourglass. "You can never even finish a threat!"

"I can too!" he protested, tugging at her arms. "Vic, seriously, I'll pull my wand on you. You came, we talked, we've caught up, now _go_."

Still holding the damn hourglass, which he was now increasingly certain was going to be the death of him just from the way the jewels sparkled at him as if _taunting _him, Victoire turned around to face him, a pout on her face that made him groan.

_No one_ could resist Victoire when she combined Veela beauty with Weasley irresistability. Well, it was irresistable if you were attracted to freckles, which Teddy most certainly was _not_, but the look never failed to work on him either.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Victoire asked plaintively, tilting the hourglass just enough to make him panic. "I came all the way from France just to see you and wish you luck with your new job, and you just want me to _leave_?"

"Vic," Teddy sighed, running a hand through his hair – now he understood why his godfather was always doing that; being surrounded by Weasley women probably had that effect on you. "You know that's not what I meant. I just want you to _put down the freaky hourglass_."

"Well, you could have just said so," Victoire beamed, her voice completely innocent as if she _hadn't_ totally been provoking him, and moved to put the hourglass back in its cupboard.

Of course, the damn thing had to choose that moment to explode.

* * *

"This is all your fault. This is absolutely, positively, one hundred percent _your fault_."

Victoire sighed impatiently. "Oh, lighten up, Teddy. We're still in the Headmaster's office, aren't we?"

Teddy, who was rushing around the office trying to figure out what the heck had happened, whirled to glare at her. "Vic," he said in a very slow, controlled voice, "this is _not_ Neville's office. Would you look at the portraits?"

Victoire glanced over at the bemused and entertained portraits of previous headmasters hanging on the wall. Her eyes narrowed. "Where's Dumbledore? McGonagall? Snape?"

"Exactly!" Teddy burst out, and at that exact moment, a door in the back opened and Albus Dumbledore stepped through.

Teddy and Victoire stared at him, dumbstruck. Dumbledore looked at both of them, clearly taking in their outfits, which were definitely not anything he'd ever seen, and Teddy's hair flashing yellow to pink to blue in alarm, and then he smiled cheerfully at both of them.

"Hello, may I help you?" he asked politely, striding over to his desk as Teddy and Victoire tried to compose themselves.

"Yes!" Teddy said quickly. "You can help me put a restraining order on her!"

Victoire stuck her tongue out at him. "Ignore him, he's a lunatic. Erm, Headmaster Dumbledore, we seem to have…traveled through time? Completely accidentally, but – "

"Of course," Dumbledore agreed genially. "There are certainly devices in here that could transport you through time. May I ask who you are?"

"Wait," Teddy interrupted Victoire's half-formed sentence with a frown. "Can you tell us what year we're in?"

"1977," answered Dumbledore. "How far is that from where you come from, exactly?"

Teddy's eyes widened. "Um…about forty-three years."

Victoire glanced between Teddy and Dumbledore, and then she sank onto one of the chairs in front of the Headmaster's desk with a sigh.

"Headmaster, I don't suppose you have a pensieve on you?"

"As I matter of fact, I do," said Dumbledore brightly. "Will we need it?"

Victoire raised an eyebrow at Teddy, who was still slack-jawed, clearly realizing who he would run into here at Hogwarts in 1977.

"Yes," she said quickly, "I think we definitely will."

* * *

"Well, this works out perfectly," said Dumbledore happily upon emerging from the pensieve as Teddy reclaimed his memories. Victoire watched the silver strands sliding back into his mind with interest.

"How on Earth does this work out perfectly?" Teddy demanded, incredulous. "We have to get back to our time, and we have no clue how to do that, and – "

"Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore interrupted firmly, and Victoire hid her laughter with a cough. "Please, calm down. All hope is not lost. I can certainly reverse engineer the hourglass which brought you here – I happen to have one in this time period as well. Also, I received a note earlier this summer from someone you may recognize."

From one of the drawers of his desk, he removed a piece of parchment – it was blue and scented like sea spray, Victoire noticed, so it was definitely something from their time period. Scented parchment was invented by her Aunt Audrey, after all, and colored parchment became a huge trend when Victoire was about seven.

"Dear Headmaster Dumbledore," Teddy read after accepting the parchment from Dumbledore, "You don't know me yet, but in a few generations, I will be sitting in your seat as the Headmaster. I'm sending this message through time to tell you that for the school year starting in 1977, you shouldn't appoint a Defense Against Dark Arts teacher at all, for one will conveniently fall into your lap on August 26th."

Victoire glanced at Dumbledore, who offered her the newspaper. Indeed, it was August 26th in 1977, according to the _Daily Prophet_.

Teddy coughed to get her attention and continued, "I know this because my own Defense teacher and a friend of his had a mishap with the hourglass and ended up in your time. I'm writing this after their safe return, so I have no doubt you managed to make the hourglass of your time work in order to send them home. I'm told they spent a year there. I trust you will find a way to make this less of a disaster than Mr. Lupin is no doubt assuming."

He paused here to look offended and shoot Victoire a glare when she started giggling.

"Thank you, Headmaster Neville Longbottom," Teddy finished with a flourish and placed the letter back on the desk. "Well, at least we'll be all right."

"Indeed," Dumbledore chuckled. "Now, as it happens, I have a position free on my staff for the Defense Against Dark Arts position, Mr. Lupin."

Teddy grinned. "Wonderful. But, uh, what about Victoire?"

Victoire, who'd been lost in her thoughts since he finished reading the letter, jolted back to reality at the sound of her name. "What about me?"

"Well, you need a reason to join the school staff as well, and I'm afraid I have no other positions," Dumbledore informed her. "I suppose you could be Mr. Lupin's assistant – "

"No!" Teddy broke in forcefully. "Make her some other poor sod's assistant."

Victoire huffed. "Excuse me, but I happen to have an idea of my own!" she said indignantly before flashing a bright smile at Dumbledore. "See, I'm apprenticing as a jeweler under my Aunt Gabrielle in my time, you know, working with magic jewels and putting enchantments on them for protection and stuff. I also have experience with other types of magical arts, like portrait-painting, sculpting, glassblowing, you name it."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, looking impressed. Teddy rolled his eyes and said, "We had a Fine Arts club at Hogwarts in our time. Vic's insane, so she learned from all the tutors instead of specializing in one."

"I specialize in jewelry," Victoire insisted. "But that's not my point. What if I started the Fine Arts club here at Hogwarts in this time and ran it myself? I can teach most types of magical fine arts, and I'm sure there are teachers or seventh years who can fill in the gaps."

"That sounds wonderful," beamed Dumbledore. "Of course, you would both be paid well for doing so, and I'll send some house elves to make your quarters. That should be done soon. Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, I have one condition," Victoire said cheerfully, and Teddy groaned, already recognizing the gleam in her eyes.

"Which is?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

Victoire grinned. "I get to sit in on Teddy's lessons whenever I want."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading! There'll be lots of Marauder action in the next chapter, which will be given to you sooner than normal (if you know me, you know how easily I get distracted from multichapters) if you review, so...please review? :) **

**And DON'T favorite/alert without reviewing, please and thank you.**


	2. pumpkin juice

Lily Evans sat primly at the Gryffindor table with her friends in eager anticipation of the Sorting, the announcements, and, of course, everyone's favorite part – the Welcoming Feast. After a whole summer limited to muggle restaurants and her mother attempting to teach Petunia to cook, Lily was more than ready to be back amongst wizards, ghosts, and edible food.

"I still can't believe _James_ got Head Boy," Alice was saying when Lily tuned back into her friends' conversation. "I mean, I know he's intelligent and he can lead his band of chaos creators just fine, but the whole school?"

"I thought for sure it was going to be Remus," Marlene added, twirling her fork in the air as if she could already see spaghetti on it.

"You two aren't the ones who have to deal with Potter, though," Lily reminded them, sending a glance down the table to where James and his friends were sitting, laughing uproariously about something or the other. "Can you believe I'll have to share an office with him? I'd hoped to have a Head who was organized."

James looked over at that moment and flashed her a grin. It wasn't his usual cocky smirk, and before Lily could catch herself, she gave him a small smile in return.

Maybe it was guilt over having been badmouthing him just a moment ago or maybe it was admiration at him having successfully led the Prefects' meeting on the train, but there was definitely a smile on her face, and it was definitely directed at James Potter.

Marlene, who had always been annoyingly observant, caught that immediately. "Lily, what on Earth was that?" she demanded, much to Lily's dismay.

"What?" Lily shook herself and quickly turned away from James. "That – that was nothing."

Marlene peered at her suspiciously, a hint of a smirk on her lips. "Didn't seem like nothing."

"It was nothing!" Lily insisted, finding herself forever grateful to Alice for interrupting at that point before Marlene could open her mouth.

"Hey, who's the new Defense teacher? I could have sworn his hair just turned…blue?" Alice said, her voice puzzled as she watched the High Table.

"I don't know any Metamorphagi," said Marlene, following her gaze up to the new Defense teacher, "so, I don't know who he is. He's pretty cute, though," she added.

"A real Metamorphagi," Lily breathed, already imagining the questions she wanted to ask him.

Sirius leaned over her at that moment though, causing her to lose concentration while he said to Marlene, "Sorry, but who's cute, exactly?"

"Why?" Marlene fired back instantly, always defensive around Sirius Black, who made it his personal mission to get beneath her skin in any way he could.

"I just – " Sirius began to say in a completely innocent voice, but Alice interrupted, again. Lily thought she may have to buy her friend a box of chocolates from Honeydukes if she kept being that helpful.

"Would you both shut up? It's far too early in the school year to start bickering. We were just discussing the new Defense teacher," she told Sirius.

Sirius frowned. "Wait, do you mean the blue-haired bloke or the gorgeous blonde lady next to him? How do you know which one's the Defense teacher?"

Lily looked back up at the High Table and realized he was right – there _was_ somebody else sitting next to the blue-haired teacher, a very pretty blonde witch wearing a sunny yellow dress instead of robes and chattering the other new professor's ears off, from the looks of it.

Marlene made a face. "She's not that pretty."

Sirius smirked. "As if. She's got to be part-Veela or something," he said, and then he retreated back to his seat next to James before Marlene could retort.

"She does seem like she might be part-Veela," Alice mused. "But why do we have two new teachers? The only position open was the Defense one."

"Maybe…they're teaching it jointly?" Lily suggested, but even she was confused. "In any case, Dumbledore will tell us what's going on after the Sorting, so it doesn't much matter."

"Speaking of the Sorting…" Marlene nodded at the crowd of first years that had just entered the Great Hall behind Professor McGonagall, and Lily took a breath and settled in, suddenly more eager for the announcements than for the feast.

After all, Marlene wasn't exactly wrong – the new blue-haired professor really was rather cute.

* * *

Blondes weren't really James Potter's type, but all through the Sorting and the feast, he found his eyes traveling frequently up to the High Table where two new professors sat.

Sirius was probably right in his guess that the blonde witch was part-Veela, James decided just as the last first year was Sorted into Gryffindor and his table erupted in deafening cheers. And her friend was definitely a Metamorphagus, which made for an interesting contrast between the two – blue and blonde, fair and tanned, tall and tiny.

No matter which one was the Defense teacher, though, James was pretty sure this year would be interesting. Of course, the year would have been interesting enough on its own with it being the Marauders' last year and James himself being Head Boy, but a Metamorphagus or a Veela for a teacher?

"At least Hogwarts is never boring," he commented, seemingly randomly, to Remus just as the food appeared.

Remus grinned at him and took two chicken legs for himself. "Definitely not since we got here," he agreed. "Peter, pass me the pumpkin juice?"

"Uh, sure," said Peter, absently grabbing the pitcher of pumpkin juice and offering it to his friend across the table, but he was clearly entranced by something, or someone, on the High Table – and James would bet fifty galleons that he was lovestruck by the pretty blonde teacher.

"Wormtail," Sirius chuckled, snapping his fingers in front of Peter's face and making him jolt, "stop staring at the teachers and start eating. We need to be nice and full in order to stay up late plotting our pr—"

He trailed off upon noticing that he'd caught Lily Evans' attention and she had one eyebrow raised as if daring him to go on.

James hid a grin as Sirius quickly snatched up his glass of orange juice and gulped it down to avoid finishing his sentence.

"See, now, _Evans_, I can believe as Head Girl," Sirius grumbled when Lily finally returned to her conversation with her friends. "You, on the other hand? I mean, bloody hell, Prongs, how'd that happen?"

James shrugged, spearing a piece of celery on his plate. "Who knows? Maybe Dumbledore's finally cracked," he suggested, grinning.

"He can't be that cracked if he hired a Veela for a teacher," Sirius pointed out with a suggestive smirk.

"Oh, for God's sake," Marlene muttered from her seat nearby, apparently having overheard. "She's obviously only part-Veela at best."

Sirius grinned over at her as Remus and James exchanged long-suffering looks. "What's the matter, McKinnon?" Sirius asked, reaching past an annoyed Alice to tweak one of Marlene's blonde curls. "Afraid you'll be upstaged?"

Marlene swatted his hand away and stuck her tongue out at him. "Shut up and go back to scheming, Black."

"Gladly," Sirius drawled, winking at James as he retreated to sitting properly with them and giving poor Alice, who seemed rather miffed, back her personal space.

James mouthed an apology to her as Sirius and Peter began talking in hushed whispers about the Marauders' latest prank idea and offered her a piece of chocolate from his pocket as a peacemaking gift.

Alice took it with a sniff, but she smiled at him, and for some reason, so did Lily. James returned to his food feeling a lot happier all of a sudden.

* * *

Before long, Remus sat stuffed with delicious food at the table while the plates were magically cleared away and the whole school slowly looked up at the High Table for the annual announcements.

Dumbledore rose from his seat once every table was clear of food and plates and stood in front of the school, smiling down at the students.

"Hello and welcome to another year at Hogwarts," said the old headmaster. "I'm sure you're all eager to get back to your Common Rooms and enjoy a full night of sleep before classes start, so I'll make this quick."

"Would he just introduce the teachers already?" muttered a sixth-year girl who was sitting near Remus and had her gaze fixed on the blue-haired teacher who was not blue-haired anymore. Remus blinked. His hair was suddenly dark golden.

"Told you," whispered Sirius, smirking, as he nudged Peter, who had apparently been too busy watching the blonde teacher to notice her Metamorphagus companion. With a frown, Peter handed over a sickle, which Sirius pocketed gleefully.

Dumbledore continued amiably, paying no attention to the Gryffindor table, probably because they were always unnecessarily noisy even in what was supposed to be silence, Remus mused with a wry smile. He loved his House, but he could see why they irritated the Slytherins so much.

"I'm sure most of you have noticed the two new additions to our table up here and were wondering why two teachers when there's only one position open," Dumbledore said with a mysterious smile. "May I introduce your new Defense teacher, Professor Teddy Lupin!"

Remus froze.

Professor Lupin stood and at least half of Hogwarts went crazy with applause, mostly the female half. But Remus didn't move, even though he knew his friends were looking at him in concern. His mind was working rapidly, trying to figure out if his father had some Metamorphagus cousin he'd never introduced to Remus – perhaps this Teddy Lupin was notoriously prejudiced against werewolves and his father didn't want him near Remus?

But when he glanced up at the standing professor, their gazes locked, and Professor Lupin's eyes turned blue as he winked at Remus, who still hadn't moved to applaud. He didn't _seem_ like the type to hate werewolves, but then, he didn't know about Remus's condition, and what if –

James nudged him, getting his attention. "We can confront him in class," he whispered under the cover of the dying applause. "Stop worrying. Your father's pureblood, so he might only be distantly related; you know how purebloods work."

"Right," Remus said, taking a deep breath. "Distant. Of course."

He turned back to the High Table. Professor Lupin had sat down, but he still seemed to be watching Remus and the Marauders out of the corner of his eye. Looking closer, Remus could see that the blonde at his side had placed her hand on his arm, and it seemed to be a gesture of comfort.

What would she be comforting him for?

Remus put a stop to his mind's incessant questions by tuning back into Dumbledore's speech. The Headmaster was just introducing the blonde witch by Professor Lupin's side.

"And it is my pleasure to announce that this year, for the first time ever, Hogwarts will have a Fine Arts club. It will be headed by the lovely Miss Victoire Weasley, and she will post notices on your Bulletin Board about meetings and what you can expect to learn in her club," said Dumbledore as Miss Weasley stood up and curtsied, giggling.

The earsplitting applause, this time mostly from the boys, made Remus cringe, though that may have been because Sirius was cheering loudly behind him. But he had to admit, he was interested in what kind of things she'd be teaching in her club. Maybe the Marauders could go check it out…

Remus spared one last glance up at Professor Lupin, who had started talking to Miss Weasley as soon as she sat down. The professor caught his gaze and flashed him a smile that had most of the girls around him swooning. Remus resolved to ask this new apparent relative of his exactly who he was at the first available opportunity.

For now, though, it was time to head back to the Gryffindor Common Room – and boy, did the Marauders have a surprise for their friends in there.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed; I really appreciate it! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, and please review if you did! Next chapter is more Teddy/Victoire, and then finally, DADA with Professor Lupin in chapter 4 :D Let me know what you're more excited for in your review - though I can probably guess, haha.**

**And DON'T favorite/alert without reviewing, please and thank you! (Thankfully, this only happened once last chapter because you guys are fantastic!)**


	3. firelight lounge

Later the night of the Welcoming Feast, Teddy sat on the couch in front of the fireplace in the lounge area that connected his and Victoire's rooms, staring broodingly into the blazing fire.

It was, perhaps, a touch cliché, but he didn't know what else to do while Victoire was taking a shower, and the last thing he needed was to think about his best friend naked.

So, instead, he mulled over and analyzed every last bit of his father's expression during the Feast, which may or may not have been a better option than imagining Victoire naked. Teddy wasn't quite sure.

By the time he had come to the conclusion that his father hated him, Victoire emerged from her bedroom, drying her hair off with a towel and already dressed in her nightgown. Teddy didn't bother to glance over at her, but he did hear her loud sigh.

"For the love of Merlin, stop moping," she ordered, plopping down on the armrest next to him. "Staring at the fire won't do you any good, you know. You ought to be coming up with lesson plans."

"I hate lesson plans," was Teddy's only response.

He felt Victoire's hand on his shoulder before he heard her next words. "He'll like you," she said softly. "I promise. You're wonderful, and you'll be a great teacher."

"He'll want to know how we're related," Teddy pointed out in an effort to ignore the rush of butterflies her compliments gave him.

"Tell him you're a distant cousin from France and had heard about the position through his father and decided to apply to meet him," Victoire replied easily. "You can speak French, so it's not a problem. I know you're not a Ravenclaw, Teddy, but honestly. It'll be fine."

"What if he hates me?" Teddy blurted out, his hair turning inky black. He felt Victoire's fingers run through it, her touch light, and he could practically see her eyes rolling.

"Why on Earth would he hate you?" she demanded, sliding down from the armrest and pushing him forcefully over so she could sit next to him. "I just _told_ you, he'll like you. Why wouldn't he?"

"I don't know, maybe our personalities just aren't compatible," Teddy sighed. "I wouldn't know, seeing as I never knew him!"

Victoire's hand found its way into his, her fingers warm as they intertwined. "Teddy, I promise you he'll love you. And if he doesn't, I'll hex him. It's simple."

"It's not simple."

"I'll make it simple. Now, are you coming to bed or what?"

Teddy raised an eyebrow.

"To your bed," she amended hastily. "Not mine. Obviously."

"Obviously," he smirked, but he couldn't deny her slip of the tongue had cheered him up. "Good night, Victoire."

She tossed him a smile over her shoulder as she walked to her room. "Good night, Teddy. And just so you know, I'll be sitting in on your seventh year class tomorrow."

Teddy was pretty sure he could hear her laughter through the walls.

* * *

Victoire had a dilemma. And Victoire did not _like_ dilemmas. Therefore, she absolutely had to solve this one as quickly as possible, before it grew into an _issue_.

And there was really only one way Victoire solved her dilemmas when Teddy was around.

"Teddy, what should I wear?"

The door to Teddy's bedroom from across the lounge opened reluctantly. His head appeared around it, complete with sleepy golden eyes and a mess of bed-tangled blue hair as he gazed at her incredulously.

"You have _got_ to be joking."

She batted her lashes innocently at him. "What? It's my first day. I want to make a good impression."

Teddy groaned and smacked his head onto the door, which left a bruise that he quickly covered up with his convenient Metamorphagus powers, Victoire noted indignantly.

"For Merlin's sake, Vic, you are the niece of _the_ fashion icon of magical France. Just throw something together. Either way, the boys are going to flirt with you, so what's it matter?"

Victoire huffed. "_Boys_," she said under her breath as she retreated into her room with an appropriately dramatic slamming of her door.

"Wait, Vic?" came Teddy's voice not five minutes after she'd finally settled on her favorite bright turquoise sundress.

"Yes?" she asked patiently through the door, not bothering to open it.

"Well, I was just wondering…" For some reason, Teddy seemed awfully hesitant. "Do you have that recipe for Aunt Hermione's modified Wolfsbane memorized?"

Victoire's eyes widened. "Teddy, you can't mean – " she began, then realized this conversation should probably take place face to face and opened her door. Teddy was leaning against the closed door of his bedroom, still in the shirt and sweatpants he slept in, his voice more than a little sleepy, but his eyes were dark grey and determined.

"He's my _father_," Teddy insisted. "I'm not going to sit around for a whole year and let him suffer, not if I can possibly help it."

"Teddy, you can't just give him a miraculous potion like that for however long we're here and then disappear off the face of the Earth and let him suffer again," she pointed out gently. "And we can't give anyone the recipe or the future might change. You remember Uncle Harry's stories about his third year. If the modified Wolfsbane was around back then, things might have turned out differently."

"Vic, please," he implored. "I'll explain it to him, somehow. There's only a limited supply in the world, it's still in testing stages, whatever. I just want him to have it. Can you help me?"

Victoire bit her lip, weighing her options. Teddy was her best friend, but time travel was dangerous, but…

"When's the full moon?"

Teddy leaped across the lounge in about two steps and practically crushed her in a hug.

* * *

When Teddy emerged from his bedroom, properly showered and dressed for the day, he found Victoire sprawled on the floor in front of the fireplace with mass amount of parchment – and where on Earth had she found colored and scented parchment in 1977, he paused to wonder – and inkwells with all colors of ink surrounding her.

At least, he noticed with an internal eyeroll, she had figured out what to wear. Though, he couldn't say he was glad her sundress – because of course Victoire Weasley wasn't going to wear boring old teacher's robes, as she delighted in being contrary – was that short, seeing as she'd be surrounded by hormonal teenage boys all day.

"Vic, what are you doing?" he asked bemusedly, deciding to go with the blunt approach.

Victoire rolled over onto her back, her blonde hair fanned out on three pieces of pink parchment, and beamed at him. "I'm making flyers for my Fine Arts club, of course!"

"…Victoire," said Teddy, a bit uncertainly, "you do realize you're a witch, right?"

She blinked at him. "Yeah?"

"You could just _charm_ your quill different colors and make it write for you without actually making each and every poster."

"Well, where's the fun in that?"

Teddy sighed, rubbing a hand over his temple. The morning was still so very young, and he already had a headache. This was _not_ how he had imagined his first year teaching starting off.

"And for your information, I'm making lots of different posters," she added, rolling back over to face the parchment instead of him. "I'm just going to duplicate them and cover every Common Room's bulletin board in a bunch of flyers for the Fine Arts clubs so the pressure makes them show up."

"Well thought-out," Teddy remarked dryly. "And have you set a date for your first meeting?"

Victoire paused, quill tapping thoughtfully on her cheek. "Hm, that'd be good to know, wouldn't it?"

"How is it you're the daughter of two Curse-Breakers?"

"Excuse me, you're the one teaching your teenaged father Defense Against the Dark Arts!"

"That was _all your fault_!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay! My only excuse is that I try to be two chapters ahead of what's posted, and chapter 5 just wouldn't flow, but that's done now, and here you are, I hope you like it! I promise next chapter there's lots more interaction between our time-travelers and the Marauders + their first class with Professor Lupin :) If you liked this, **please review**; feedback is invaluable to me when writing a new chapter!

And **DON'T** favorite/alert without reviewing, please and thank you!


	4. peppermint parchment

For once, the Marauders were the first ones in the classroom the next morning for their first Defense lesson. This was, of course, entirely Remus's fault, as far as Sirius could tell.

"I don't see why we had to get up early just to get front seats," Sirius grumbled, plopping down next to James in the front row. "We could have easily kicked out whoever ended up sitting here if we came later and gotten some more sleep."

"What if it was Lily, Alice, and Marlene sitting in the front row?" Peter asked.

Sirius scowled at him. "Stop poking sense in my argument, Wormtail. Sense is for afternoons."

"Sorry," said Peter, but he didn't sound all that sorry, funnily enough. Sirius huffed dramatically at him.

"I wanted to talk to Professor Lupin," explained Remus, pulling his textbooks out of his bag. "Preferably before other people got here."

"Good plan," murmured James dazedly, still half-asleep, before promptly dropping his head onto the desk and closing his eyes.

Sirius started grumbling under his breath about how certain stupid people could fall back to sleep so easily, but he was interrupted right when he started questioning James' parentage to himself by the appearance of Professor Lupin in the doorway.

"Professor!" said Remus, caught off guard as he had been quietly conversing with Peter. "Um, we were just…"

"Obscenely early," supplied Professor Lupin with a tired smile as he entered the classroom. "I must admit, I hadn't expected the infamous Marauders to show up early to a class."

"Me neither," Sirius piped up, shooting Remus a dark look which was completely ignored.

"Any particular reason?" Professor Lupin asked, moving towards his desk. "Or are you all just that eager to learn?"

"No," said Sirius emphatically, but was, again, ignored. It was kind of annoying, he mused absently.

"Yes, I did doubt that, seeing as how Mr. Potter is fast asleep," Professor Lupin said, laughing. His hair turned fire engine red as he looked at James, until Remus got his attention again.

"Professor, I was just wondering…" Here, he hesitated. "Are you related to me?"

Sirius watched his professor with interest. Mostly because his hair was cycling through colors like a rainbow threw up on it. Red to pink to blue to yellow to purple to green to black. It was pretty cool, in a dizzying kind of way.

Professor Lupin coughed. "Ah, we might be. I spent most of my life in France, though, which is probably why we never met. Don't think I ever met your father, either."

Remus still looked doubtful. "But Dad's never said anything about a French branch of the family."

Professor Lupin's hair turned pink again. "I was raised by my grandmother from my mother's side, and she never mentioned any British relatives, so I guess we're even."

"Er, yeah, I guess," said Remus, a bit uncertainly. Sirius leaned back in his chair, carefully observing his new professor. Something about his behavior told him he was lying, but what other explanation was there for him having the same last name as Remus?

Of course, Victoire Weasley chose that moment to wander in, her arms full of brightly-colored parchment, and Sirius's annoyance at his lack of sleep mysteriously vanished into thin air.

* * *

James awoke at the scent of peppermint, followed immediately by someone thrusting a piece of mint-green parchment under his nose.

"What the – " he began, and then quickly noticed he was in a classroom with a teacher at the front and probably shouldn't curse. Biting his tongue, he glanced down at the parchment that had unceremoniously been shoved onto his desk.

HOGWARTS FINE ARTS CLUB, screamed the parchment at him in bright blue ink, COME TO THE FIRST MEETING ON SEPTEMBER 10TH IN THE ABANDONED CLASSROOM ON THE SEVENTH FLOOR TO LEARN HOW TO PAINT, SCULPT, AND WORK WITH GLASS, METAL, AND JEWELS. AMONG OTHER THINGS.

A pretty picture of a golden crown with multi-colored jewels on it was drawn beneath the words. James studied it for a moment, impressed, before glancing up to figure out what the heck was going on.

Professor Lupin was at the front of the classroom with a fondly exasperated look on his face and bright purple hair. His gaze was fixed on a young blonde woman; James' sleep-deprived mind took a moment to recognize her as Victoire Weasley. And she was simultaneously dropping brightly-colored flyers on every desk and chattering happily with –

"Lily!" he said, the word slipping out of his mouth before he could control it. Lily swiveled to face him, green eyes curious, while Alice and Marlene started giggling, and James, much to his horror, felt heat in his cheeks.

"Something wrong, Mr. Potter?" asked Professor Lupin, looking genuinely concerned.

"No, I – " James shook his head. "Sorry. I just woke up, and I guess I was a little disoriented."

Professor Lupin's lips quirked in a half-smile. "Understandable. Class starts in fifteen minutes, so if you could kindly make sure you're awake by then – "

"I don't think that'll be a problem," said Sirius from a nearby chair, and James didn't have to look at him to see the smirk on his best friend's face.

"Delightful," Victoire – was he supposed to call her Miss Weasley if he wasn't in her club yet? – said cheerily. "Now, Lily, as I was saying, anyone can string a few gems together, but to make a piece of jewelry magical, you've got to use magic gems, and then you've got to put them together in the right order so their magic doesn't counteract the other gems and you don't end up with an exploded house."

"She speaks from experience," added Professor Lupin dryly, winking at the Marauders. James hid a laugh as Victoire reached over and shoved Professor Lupin. He swayed to the side and grinned but remained otherwise unaffected.

"Professor, will she be sitting in on our class today?" Peter piped up, a goofy smile on his face as he watched the girls talk about magic jewels and the like.

"Probably," Professor Lupin sighed, but there was a note of affection in his voice as he looked over at Victoire. "Should be a fun class."

* * *

Class began promptly on the hour. Remus already had all his books piled on his desk, not so much because he was eager to learn, although he was, of course, but more because he wanted to figure this Professor Lupin out.

As soon as everyone was settled in and Victoire was perched on the teacher's desk, Professor Lupin raised a hand like he wanted to get everyone's attention, and snapped his fingers.

The whole classroom descended into darkness.

Remus winced as a girl behind him started shrieking, joined by several other people, some of them male. In fact, he was pretty sure Peter was one of them.

A jet of green light snaked it way from the front of the classroom right to him.

"_Protego_!" he yelled, squeezing his eyes shut, only half-certain that the green light wasn't the Killing Curse while the other, uncertain half of him was panicking because how could a shield charm hold up against the Killing Curse –

The green light impacted his shield and dissolved in a flurry of emerald sparkles. Hesitantly, Remus opened his eyes without lowering the shield, but the room was still in pitch darkness and full of frightened screams.

"You okay, Moony?" James whispered from his side. Remus could smell mahogany from what he recognized as James's wand and guessed that James had made a shield, too.

"Fine," Remus said, a little breathless from the Killing Curse scare. "It was a just a color spell, I think."

"Pretty freaky, though," added Sirius from the other side of Remus. "Why would he – "

Suddenly, the room was filled with light again. Sirius broke off his sentence quickly as the classroom quieted down.

Professor Lupin leaned back against his desk, his bright golden gaze surveying the classroom. He seemed to be in no great rush, and it was several moments after the last of the screams had died down before he spoke.

"So," he said finally, tucking his wand into the holster at his hip and wandering closer to the students. "Unfamiliar situation. Lack of light. No idea who the enemy is. What did my NEWT students do?"

Remus chanced a glance around the classroom. He counted maybe six other shield charms, besides his, James's, and Sirius's. One Hufflepuff had tried to convert his desk into a makeshift shield.

"Nine magical shields, one wooden shield, and fifteen people standing around cowering," announced Professor Lupin, his voice ringing in the silence. "Better than I expected, to be honest. Ten points to each person who thought to cast the shield charm, and Mr. McMillan, take five points for thinking to use your resources, even if your wand didn't occur to you."

Arnold McMillan flushed, but looked faintly pleased. So did Severus Snape in his corner desk at the back of the classroom, Remus noticed. Snape sat alone, the single Slytherin in the entire class, and one of the few who'd cast a shield charm.

"My godfather always told me to be aware of my surroundings," Professor Lupin continued, diverting Remus's attention back to him. "This goes double in a war. _Never_ be caught off-guard. By the end of the year, I expect that if the lights go out like that, there will be zero screaming and twenty-five shield charms in the classroom."

Defense, Remus decided, was definitely going to be interesting this year.

* * *

**a/n: **i'm really sorry, i don't actually know what seventh years would be taught in dada...for obvious reasons. but i'm sure you'll have fun watching me improvise. as always, thanks a ton to my reviewers; i really appreciate you all and your feedback! keep it coming, please, i love hearing what you have to say!

and **DON'T** favorite/alert without reviewing, please and thank you.


	5. glass phoenix

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE END, PLEASE READ.**

* * *

By the end of the lesson, half the class was thoroughly entranced by Victoire, and the other half was totally amazed by Teddy. Victoire decided it had been a very successful lesson.

"I don't want an essay," Teddy was telling the class when she started listening to him again, "but I do expect you to research all the various types of shield charms. _Everyone_ will have to answer at least two questions on them tomorrow in an oral quiz, so be prepared."

With light murmurings, the students started packing up their bags and filing out of the classroom. Victoire watched from her seat on top of Teddy's desk, tracking the movements of one particular student as he stood from his desk and made to leave.

Teddy was distracted by a question Lily was asking him, so Victoire took the opportunity to catch Snape's attention before he left.

"Mr. Snape," she said quietly, sparing a moment to marvel at how unnatural it was to be calling him that, "could I have a moment?"

Snape looked at her curiously, but stilled. "Yes, Miss Weasley?" he asked politely, though there was a hint of a sneer in his tone, probably because of her surname. She supposed the fact that she was clearly part-Veela had discouraged him and most pureblood students from looking down on her for being a Weasley.

"I've been talking to the other teachers, trying to get a feel for the students, especially the seventh years," she told him easily, though it was mostly a lie – she'd really only spoken to Professor McGonagall about students. "And I've heard that you are one of the best in your class at Potions."

Snape's almost-sneer vanished into a pleased expression, though he kept himself from smiling. "Well, I do have good scores in Potions," he admitted.

"Indeed," Victoire smiled brightly at him, though she didn't bother with her minimal Veela charm. Most likely, he'd already developed Occlumency skills, so there was no point.

"That's what Professor Slughorn told me. I was wondering if I could recruit you to be an official brewer for my Fine Arts club – I'm not sure if you're aware, but magical portraits require a paintbrush dipped in a special potion, and Professor Slughorn, of course, is busy with his classes, so I thought I might ask his best student," she said, gauging his reaction carefully.

Snape opened his mouth, then closed it again, looking at her closely, as if trying to read her mind. The thought made her quickly snap her Occlumency shields into place, and she paused to mentally laugh at the idea of her defending her mind from a teenage version of the very person – or, portrait – who had taught her how to do it.

As she waited for his response, she noticed that the Marauders and Lily were still in the room, chattering quietly amongst themselves and with Teddy, though their fellow Gryffindors and the rest of their classmates had long since left. At least, the Marauders were chattering; Lily, she noticed, was watching her conversation with Snape and looking rather disgruntled.

"I…wouldn't mind," Snape said finally, diverting her attention back to him. "But I _am_ taking several NEWT-level classes, so I'm not sure if I'll have the time."

"No worries, I'm sure I can whip up a team of student brewers given some time," Victoire told him cheerfully. "You can be the head of the team, so that when you're busy studying for your NEWTs, you can delegate the actual brewing to someone else. Professor Slughorn mentioned he had some promising sixth years as well."

Snape brightened considerably at the idea of being the leader. "That'd be nice," he said. "I'll come to the first meeting. Thanks, Miss – "

"Call me Victoire, I'm not your teacher," she said airily, smiling at him. He was a lot different from his portrait version, but she found she rather liked him when he wasn't dead-set on hating her.

"Okay," said Snape uncertainly. "Thanks, Victoire." He glanced back once over his shoulder before hurrying out the door. Victoire had to grin at how quickly he'd started using her first name when she had the position of power over him, as opposed to how long it had taken his future portrait to stop referring to her as "brat" or some variation thereof.

She glanced back at the four Marauders and Lily, noting that nobody seemed particularly happy with her conversation with Snape, which they'd clearly overheard, except perhaps Teddy, who only raised an eyebrow over Sirius's head at her. But it was Lily, of the five, who approached her first.

"Um, Miss Weasley?" Lily asked hesitantly. "I, uh, didn't mean to overhear – "

"Of course not," agreed Victoire, hiding a smile. She had nothing but the deepest respect for her Uncle Harry's mother, but the girl in front of her was a _teenager_ and, being surrounded by her younger cousins her whole life, Victoire mostly just found teenagers amusing at this point.

Lily looked a bit uncertain, like she didn't know whether Victoire was being sarcastic or not. Behind her, Teddy hid a laugh with a cough, though even the Marauders looked slightly confused that Victoire was not just an especially pretty airhead.

"But," Lily forged ahead with trademark Gryffindor valiance, which Victoire could certainly appreciate, "how come you asked Severus to be the lead brewer?"

Victoire tilted her head thoughtfully. "Well, because he's one of the best in your year, is he not?"

"Well, yes, but…" Lily seemed to struggle with herself for the next part of her sentence. "I get grades just as good as his. And we were partners for five years, so I know we're both on the same level – "

"Ah," Victoire interrupted, a smile on her face. "You're jealous."

Lily turned an interesting shade of red. James looked offended on her behalf, and so did Sirius, to a lesser degree. Remus was ignoring them in favor of talking to Teddy, and Peter was just staring at her, which was rather awkward, seeing as she knew his future.

"I'm – I'm not – !" Lily began spluttering, then took a breath to calm herself. "Miss Weasley, I just – I just thought that – "

"Miss Weasley," James broke in as Lily's half-formed sentence died on her lips, "with all due respect, I can promise you that Lily is the best at Potions in our year, bar none."

Teddy began coughing suddenly, though his coughs sounded suspiciously amused.

Victoire took a long moment before answering, mostly so she could be entertained by the reactions of the students while they waited for her. Even Peter had stopped making googly-eyes long enough to trade frowns with Sirius.

"Thank you for your input, Mr. Potter," she said finally, trying not to betray the smile she felt twitching her lips. "I'll take it into account. But until then, I do believe you five have classes to get to."

* * *

"That was a bit mean," Teddy told her two classes later after he'd passed out three detentions and awarded a ridiculous amount of points to Gryffindor, mostly to keep Victoire satisfied.

She blinked at him, and he hid a smile. "What? I only told him he ought to try a perfume smell. Could do wonders since he's _clearly_ not prepared to shower."

Teddy bumped her shoulder with his own as the door closed behind the last student of the class. "Not that. Earlier. With Lily and James."

"Oh," Victoire said, leaning back against his desk and drumming her fingers on the wood. "It was mostly for his benefit, you know."

Teddy raised his eyebrows. "How was any of that to anyone's benefit except Snape's?"

She smiled cheekily at him. "See, I made James stand up for Lily. She may not be very pleased with me but she'd be happy about that. And she'll have to thank him. Especially if my memory of Uncle Harry's stories is correct and this is the year they start dating."

"Ah. So you're meddling."

"_Matchmaking_."

"Same difference."

"You know what, Lupin – "

He started laughing, cutting her off at a huff, and sauntered around his desk. "You're really something, Victoire, you know that?"

Victoire turned around to make a face at him. "You're odd."

Teddy planted his hands on his desk and leaned over to look her in the eye. "You're my best friend."

"You're right, I should be used to it," she agreed brightly.

He raised a hand to tweak one of her curls. "When do you think you could start the potion?"

Her face transformed instantly. "Teddy, I still don't think we should be messing with the past like this."

"Dumbledore will handle it," he insisted, his other hand sliding across the desk to snatch her own. "I already asked him."

Victoire's eyes narrowed. "When on Earth did you have time to ask him?"

Teddy grinned at her. "While you were busy feeding Symphony." Before she could react, he darted his hand inside the pocket of her coat and drew out a small glass phoenix fluttering its wings.

Victoire crossed her arms. "How did you know about that?"

"Well, you're not a Slytherin," he pointed out, tossing Symphony into the air where she started trilling a semi-familiar song. "Also, what does a glass phoenix even eat in the first place?"

"More glass," she said, shrugging. "You know, I only left for, like, ten minutes."

"Ten minutes is long enough for a Floo call," he smiled, before sobering up. "You are going to make it, right?"

She bit her lip. "I already agreed to it, Teddy. I just need the ingredients."

"I know." He paused, glancing sidelong at her. "Thank you."

Victoire half-smiled. "Anytime."

* * *

"Miss Weasley!" called Professor McGonagall, her voice ringing in the empty hallway. Victoire skidded to a stop, quickly racking her brain for anything she might have done to get in trouble. Had McGonagall been spying on Teddy's lessons or something?

"Yes, Professor?" she asked cheerfully, swiveling to face McGonagall with her politest, most innocent smile plastered on her face.

McGonagall stopped her long strides in front of her. "I was just curious, is your Fine Arts club open to staff as well?" she asked, holding up one of Victoire's scented parchments – this one was yellow and smelled like lemon bread, one of Victoire's personal favorite colors.

"Of course," Victoire said, surprised that this was a question. After all, who would turn away the staff? "Everyone is welcome!"

"Good," McGonagall said, and then her eyebrows rose in an expression that Victoire knew from her own schooldays meant she was about to say something Victoire wouldn't like. "And I was wondering, Miss Weasley – where did you come up with scented and colored parchment?"

Victoire's eyes widened. "I – my aunt…in France…showed me the spells," she said quickly, mentally kicking herself. She was normally a much better liar, but then, McGonagall _had_ been her Headmistress when she was young and impressionable.

McGonagall paused, then smiled. "I think you misunderstand me, Miss Weasley. Albus has informed me of where you come from."

"Oh," Victoire sighed in relief. "That's good. But my aunt did still invent scented parchment. Sort of. I mean, she was the first person to try mass-producing it and selling it."

"I see," said McGonagall thoughtfully. "That's very interesting. And the colored parchment as well?"

"No, someone else started selling that when I was little," Victoire told her. "Aunt Audrey just ended up buying them out and combining the two."

"Clever of your aunt Audrey," McGonagall remarked. "Is there anything else that you've brought with you?"

"Um." Victoire put on her sweetest smile. "My enchanted glass phoenix and a recipe for Wolfsbane."

McGonagall gave her a critical look. "Messing with time travel is a very dangerous thing, Miss Weasley. I do hope you know what you're doing."

"Me, too," agreed Victoire.

"I know Albus is working to send you two home, but you're still going to have to stay here the entire year," continued McGonagall. "If you're not careful, it could lead to disastrous consequences."

Victoire sighed, raking a hand through her curls. "I know, Professor, believe me. We want to make a difference, but not too much of one, you know?'

"Yes," McGonagall said, surveying Victoire over her glasses. "For all our sakes, I hope you succeed, Miss Weasley."

There was a pregnant pause, until McGonagall added, "Now, I hear you're looking for a suitable classroom for your club?"

"I have a classroom," said Victoire, puzzled.

"Yes," smiled McGonagall, "but it's hardly suitable yet, now, is it?"

* * *

**ANNOUNCEMENT**

Okay, guys, I'm super sorry for the lack of updates, but I had a reason - cramming in all the summer homework I procrastinated on in preparation for this week (my first back in school).

However, it made me realize that I really don't have time to devote to this story. Therefore, I'm going to post the next chapter, which I wrote a while ago, and then either delete the story or just leave it up. I'm still deciding on that - part of me wants to delete because I have enough unfinished fics sitting around my profile and mocking me, but at the same time, I might want to come back to it. However, if I do come back to it, I might want to rewrite completely...

Anyway, what I'm saying is, **this story is ending**. Whether it'll be deleted or just going on an indefinite hiatus, I don't know - IF YOU HAVE A PREFERENCE, REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW.

Also, I promise this has nothing to do with you guys or your reviews - you're lovely reviewers and I love you all for it - but I really want to focus on school and I don't have time/energy for a multichapter, I'm sorry! On the bright side, I do have lots of fun oneshot ideas, many of them Victoire or Teddy/Victoire-centric for you to look forward to (by the way, if you haven't voted in my poll yet, you should do that!)

Basically, yeah, that's it - next chapter is the last I'm uploading. Again, **let me know if you want me to leave this story up**. If not, I'll just delete it :)

Thanks again for everything!


	6. couch pillows

**Final decision re: the story at the end!**

* * *

It was only the second time that Lily had entered the Heads' Office that year, and she was pleasantly surprised to discover that James had not allowed his friends free reign to create chaos just yet. She was more surprised to see James at his desk, doing…homework?

"Am I going blind," she began, speaking slowly as she entered the office fully, "or are you actually working?"

James had jumped at the sound of her voice, but a smile crossed his face by the time she finished. "Actually, you're going blind. Might want to see Madam Pomfrey for that," he teased, startling a laugh out of her as she dropped her books onto the comfy red couch on her side of the office.

"I thought so," she agreed, settling down into the couch and rolling a blue hairband off her wrist to tie her hair back. "Seriously, though, we don't even have that much homework yet, you know."

"I know," James said, shrugging. "But I wanted to get a head start, since I'm also Quidditch captain and I've scheduled tryouts for next week and then things are going to get hectic, so…why are you smiling?"

Lily smothered a laugh as she gathered her hair up in a ponytail. "Oh, nothing. I was just surprised that you're actually focused on school instead of pranks this year," she told him honestly.

James's grin was suddenly mischievous. "Who says I can't focus on both?"

Lily let herself laugh this time, deciding to forget about her astonishment that James Potter could actually make her smile in favor of enjoying his company. James's smile seemed that much brighter when she looked at him, so she figured it was worth it.

"Well, while you're doing both," she said, adjusting the tightness of her ponytail, "don't forget about writing up the prefect rounds. I've already done the first two weeks of the month, so you can do the next two, and we'll alternate."

James rolled his eyes mock-irritably. "I don't see why the prefects can't write up their own rounds," he complained, sifting through his drawers presumably in search of the scrolls with the prefect appointments.

"None of them would do it," she pointed out. "Trust me, Remus and I tried often enough to get out of doing those."

"Really?" James grinned at her, his eyebrows disappearing under his hair. "The great Lily Evans, trying to get out of her noble and honorable prefect duty?"

Lily threw one of the couch pillows at him, and he dodged it with a laugh. "Shut up, Potter," she ordered through her giggles. "As I recall, you're the one who planted the idea in Remus's head because you needed him to help with a prank, so it's really your fault."

"You wound me," he told her dryly, straightening up and pulling out the scroll he was looking for with a flourish. "This is the one, yeah?"

"Yeah," confirmed Lily, settling back into the couch and going quiet as he started looking over the two weeks worth of rounds she'd already written up. "Oh, and…James?"

He jumped, probably because she'd used his first name, and looked over at her curiously. "Yeah?"

Lily bit her lip. "I wanted to thank you for standing up for me in Professor Lupin's classroom. I – you didn't have to, really, I was being silly, but – "

"No, you weren't," he interrupted hotly. "I mean, sure, Snape is…not half bad at Potions. But you're better. I know you are. You deserve to be head brewer just as much as he does."

She smiled at him, feeling more than a little giddy at his defense. "Thanks," she said, running a hand through her ponytail. "But it's all right, really. I mean, between being Head Girl and studying for NEWTs and just participating in her Fine Arts club, I don't think I really have time to be a brewer."

"Well, okay," he said, sounding a bit disgruntled. "You still deserve it, though."

Lily laughed, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks, and quickly changed the subject. "Are you going to go to her first meeting?"

James sent her a grin. "I think I have to. Her green parchment yelled at me about it," he told her, reaching down and pulling out a mint-green flyer from his schoolbag.

Lily took one look at it and made a face. The caps-lock letters certainly were…persuasive. "I see," she said with a giggle. "I'll see you there, then, right?"

James's eyes lit up. "Yeah," he said, his tone carefully controlled but delighted, "of course."

* * *

"MOONY!"

Sirius's shout from across the Common Room led to several Gryffindors cringing away from the portrait hole and covering their ears. Some of the older ones cast spells to limit the volume of the noise. Sirius, however, paid no heed to any of them, instead vaulting himself over all the couches obstructing his path to Remus and Peter.

"What is it, Sirius?" Remus asked, half-curious, half-weary. Next to him, Peter pulled out a small red notebook, flipped to a specific page, and scrawled a tally mark underneath the header 'Sirius Tries to Destroy the Common Room version 7th Year'.

Sirius took a moment to look at the notebook and get offended. "I was not trying to _destroy_ it," he protested indignantly. "I was just trying to get across it!"

"Well, I think you flattened a couple of second years," Peter said wryly, gesturing to a table near the portrait hole where four second year Gryffindors were cowering. One little boy seemed ready to burst into tears.

Sirius winced. "Whoops," he said, reaching into his pockets to pull out a chocolate bar he had probably stolen from the kitchens, Remus mused. "Here, kids!" he called, tossing the chocolate at the second years, who immediately brightened.

"There, problem solved," he said cheerfully, plopping down on the ground in front of Remus and Peter. "Hey, where's Prongs?"

"He's in the Heads' office," answered Remus, thumbing through his Transfiguration textbook in search of the spell he needed to write an essay on. "Why? Is it important?"

"Well, it involves him," Sirius said. "But I bet he's having fun seducing Lily, so it's okay, I'll just tell you guys."

"Oh, haven't you heard?" Peter piped up, adding another line to his essay. "He decided to give up on chasing after Lily this year."

Sirius scoffed, "Like he's going to stick to that. One look at her and he'll melt like an ice cube in the Sahara."

"I'm impressed you know about the Sahara," Remus commented mildly. "But, more to the point, I think he actually wants to be friends with her this year. _Just_ friends."

"Oh." Sirius pondered that a minute. "Well, that'll be interesting to watch. You don't suppose he'll want to induct her into the Marauders, do you?" he asked, sounding horrified at the prospect.

"Would that be a bad thing?" Peter tilted his head, considering. "I mean, she's pretty and smart and – "

"_Yes_, Wormtail," Sirius groaned, "adding the _Head Girl_ to the Marauders would be a bad idea. I mean, we already have to put up with the Head Boy."

"The Head Boy is your best friend," Remus pointed out, hiding a smile when Sirius turned his glare on him.

"It's the principle of the matter," Sirius dismissed. "Anyway, that's not even why I came over here. You know that classroom Victoire's going to host the her Fine Arts club in?"

"Should you be calling her Victoire?" Peter interrupted doubtfully. "She didn't give _you_ permission to."

Sirius made a face. "She gave _Snape_ permission to, though, which means I can call her whatever."

"No, it doesn't," said Peter, confused, only to get a couch pillow thrown at his face. "But – "

"Peter," Remus sighed, a fondly amused smile on his face, "we can deal with Sirius's lack of respect for our teachers later. Maybe when he starts calling the Headmaster or Professor Lupin by their first names."

Sirius blinked owlishly at him. "Speaking of Professor Lupin, am I the only one who's still suspicious that he has the same last name as you?"

Remus shrugged, bookmarking his page and setting down the book. "Well, to be honest, I could have distant relatives in France that I don't know about, or that Dad doesn't know about. He did say he was an orphan. Plus, there's no Metamorphagi in my family."

Sirius frowned. "Yeah, but still," he sighed. "Oh, well, that's a mystery for another day. Did I tell you my little cousin, Andromeda's girl, is a Metamorphagus?"

"About five times this school year alone," Remus laughed. "What was your original point?"

"Hm?" Sirius shook his head, presumably to clear it. "Oh, yeah! About the Fine Arts classroom – I went and checked it out, and it is the _perfect_ place for some of the prank ideas we've been throwing around. You guys in?"

"I don't know," Peter said cautiously. "I'm not sure if we should be pranking Miss Weasley."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "That's just because you think she's gorgeous, Wormtail."

Peter turned pink. "She is!"

"Yeah," Sirius agreed, grinning. "But that'll make it even more fun when we douse her in paint, won't it?"

* * *

**All right, guys, thank you for all your reviews and your opinions, I really appreciate them all!**

**I just wanted to mention first that a couple people suggested I give it up for adoption, but I'm sorry, I'm not going to do that - my stories are special to me, and I don't think I could handle seeing someone else take it on.**

**Anyway, the overwhelming vote was for me to keep it up and even update it every few months whenever I could, so I'll do that :) This story will be marked on indefinite hiatus. If I get inspiration, I'll update it, but that could take a while as I'm busy with school and whatnot.**

**Thank you guys so much for everything! **


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